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God’s Broken Family
God’s Broken Family It’s tempting to freak out over the fact that our families are broken — to think that if we fix the issues of marriage, money, and faith, we’ll fix the future of our families, and voila! — all will be well. But in reality, broken families are not new. We all come from a broken family because God’s family is broken. The thing is, this isn’t the tragedy we assume. Broken is right where God wants us — and right where He can powerfully reassemble us. In the beginning, God created man and woman. Adam and Eve were a family, a man and a woman evidencing the image of God in…
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Can You Imagine?
“Cheer up, don’t be afraid. For the Lord your God has arrived to live among you. He is a mighty Savior. He will give you victory. He will rejoice over you in great gladness; he will love you and not accuse you.” Is that a joyous choir I hear? No, it is the Lord himself exulting over you in happy song.” — Zephaniah 3:16–18 Can you imagine that God’s delight in us is so genuine, so spontaneous, so spirited that he exults over us by singing happy songs? Can you imagine that he not only lives among us (within us) and promises to give us victory, but also that he rejoices…
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Praying to Be Able to Walk in Faith
What if this Jesus thing is all a hoax? I thought to myself in horror one day nearly two years after I accepted Christ as Savior. What if none of it’s true? What if the pastor suddenly says, “This is all a joke, and you fell for it! Jesus isn’t real and you’re not really saved!” That day a wall of doubt settled around me like steel bars separating me from my future. The possibility of a life of nothingness became a temporary reality, and I panicked. What brought this on all of a sudden? I wondered. I struggled with that flash of doubt for days, and the more I thought about it, the…
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Everything Comes Alive – We Are Messengers
“In the evening when my bones are tired You’re my strength and my heart’s desire You’re the light when the sun expires I remember how far I’ve come I’m not lost with You I’m home I didn’t find You on my own” I was listening to one of my favorite songs on the way to work this morning — Everything Comes Alive by We Are Messengers — and I was reflecting on a sermon I heard on one of my favorite stories in the Bible — The Valley of Dry Bones. In this story, God gives Isaiah this vision and commands him to prophesy to a valley full of human bones. Isaiah trusts God…
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Agape: A Love Like No Other
Agape: Noun / Christian love, especially as distinct from erotic love or emotional affection. Early 17th century: from Greek agapē ‘selfless love.’ I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt. I look for the good in them before I see the bad. I see potential in people that everyone else writes off. I thrive in helping those people see themselves in a positive light — the way God sees them. Sometimes they do prove me wrong, and for some reason I am disappointed and surprised every time that happens. But alas, I do it again and again. People tell me that I am “too nice” (which I totally take as a…
